Standing at the head of the city, looking at the five strange chariots lined up in front of the formation, his heart was both curious and uneasy. However, before he could think about it, a sudden thunderous explosion broke the original calm on the battlefield. It was not surprising that the June thunder sounded, and the defenders, including the pull, subconsciously raised their heads and looked at the sky. However, at this moment, the sky above them was cloudless and blindingly blue, except for a black object with a piercing whistling sound across the sky.

There was another loud bang, and the arrow tower on the left side of the city, which was originally standing at the head of the city, was cut off half of the floor by an unknown object flying in the blink of an eye. Flying pieces of wood and rubble fell into the city, smashing the defenders below to the ground, and the archers in the arrow tower were even more unlucky.

Could this be the art of the heavens and the earth splitting! Could it be that Yuan Tan deceived us?! He stood in place dumbfounded, looking up at the arrow tower that had been punched out of a hole, and his heart was shocked and angry for a while. It's a pity that before he could give the order, a series of rumbling thunder erupted in the Qi camp opposite. This time, the defenders at the head of the city could clearly see that every fireball rising from the chariot of the Qi army, a black shadow crossed the sky and headed straight for Pingcheng. Thinking of the tragic situation of the arrow tower just now, the defenders at the head of the city were suddenly in an uproar, and they were so frightened that they hugged their heads and ran away. It's just that how can a person's legs run past the unloaded cannonballs above the narrow city barrier, and in the blink of an eye, four meteor-like cannonballs smashed the crossbow platform and drum pier on the south gate.

Not only the south gate, which was bathed in artillery fire, but also the rumble of artillery at this moment also alarmed the entire Pingcheng. Hundreds of people craned their necks like the defenders of the south gate to see what was going on, but found that although there was constant thunder in their ears, there was no dark cloud in the sky. Faced with such a strange scene, many people were so frightened that they hid back in their houses. As for the defenders of the other three gates, the hearts of the people are even more fluctuating at this time.

"Lei Gong is beating the drums?"

"No, it must be the Qi Army's landslide and earth cracking technique!"

"Ah, Cai Demon Girl also casts spells!"

"Hugh is nonsense!" Zhonglang, who was guarding the West Gate, glared at Deng Sheng and drank the whispering soldiers below. But his mind became more and more restless with the rumbling thunder.

Meanwhile. The gunners of the Qi army are methodically cleaning the chambers, loading ammunition, and calibrating the ballistics. The Qi army's current understanding of ballistics has just involved the inertial path of the cannonball in the air after it is fired from the breech, that is, a little fur of the external ballistic, so it is relatively primitive compared to later generations. But even so, the effect of the first round of artillery bombardment still greatly boosted the morale of the whole army, especially the cannon that hit the arrow tower, which was so beautiful that Cai Ji on the chariot applauded. And Cai Meng, the gunner who operated the artillery, was directly promoted to the commander of the small capital because of this cannon, commanding five artillery pieces.

However, Pang Tong's use of artillery today is not limited to scaring and scaring the defenders of Pingcheng. Boost your morale and use artillery in siege warfare to work with other classes. It is said that since the first battle of Jinzhou, Pang Tong has been obsessed with this kind of large-scale killing weapon composed of bronze and fire. In the past year, on the one hand, the Qi army has made certain adjustments to the artillery itself, such as changing the gun carriage from four wheels to two wheels. On the other hand, Pang Tong also understood the battle of Guò Jinzhou and the daily drills of artillery. The artillery of the Qi army was neither suitable for killing and wounding soldiers and horses, nor for bombarding the city walls. After all, hit the soldiers with huge cannonballs. It's like a waste of shooting flies with a bowbow. At present, there are only five artillery pieces of the Qi army. A few shells alone were not enough to blast through the thick rammed-earth walls. Therefore, the most powerful way to reflect the power of artillery at present is to bombard the fortifications on the city gates, crossbow platforms, arrow towers, battlements, and other city gates.

Finally, after three rounds of shelling in a row, Pang Tong saw through the monocular crystal telescope that the arrow tower on the left side of Pingcheng had completely collapsed and smashed on the city. But seeing that he forcibly suppressed the excitement in his heart, he turned around and bowed to Cai Ji and said, "After the shelling, please give the Lord the order to attack the city." ”

Although the shelling in front of him is far from the scene of fires and explosions in Cai Ji's memory. In terms of momentum, it was not as good as the Five Elements Escape Banner that directly blew up the city wall, but she also knew that this was the best result that the original bronze artillery could achieve. Not to mention that Yan Rou, Nanlou, and Wuyan on the side had already been shaken by the rumbling cannon fire, and they couldn't hold themselves. And that's exactly what Cai Ji wants. It must be known that with her current status, if she orders the recruitment of soldiers and horses from the Wuhuan departments in Youzhou, she can gather an army of forty or fifty thousand in ten months. But Cai Ji didn't do that. Because she didn't want people to mistakenly think that she, Cai Ji, had to use the Hu people to win the state. On the contrary, she wants to let the Hu people inside and outside the Sai understand. The Qi army did not need to rely on any force to suppress the Youjing.

Therefore, the shelling was only the beginning, and taking Pingcheng was the real purpose of Cai Ji's trip. Seeing Cai Ji bowing his head slightly, he waved his hand and said, "General Wenyuan listens to the order!" Lone Thou led three thousand iron horsemen to attack the city. ”

"Whoa!" Zhang Liao, who was already eager to try, responded in a deep voice, and immediately rode his horse to the side of the phalanx, counted the people and horses, and walked out of the formation.

Seeing this, the koji actor on the side hurriedly stepped forward to ask Cai Ji for battle, "Lord, Yan is willing to rush to the city to take the head of the recruitment and dedicate it to the lord." ”

Cai Ji looked back at the koji performance who was gearing up, and immediately laughed and said, "Good, the general will lead 10,000 troops and attack the city with General Wenyuan!" ”

"Whoa!" The overjoyed Koji Yan clasped his fists and bowed, "The performance will live up to the trust of the Lord!" ”

So, after the rolling thunder stopped, the sound of a loud horn soon sounded in the Qi army's array. I saw Zhang Liao leading three thousand iron horsemen, running all the way to the city like a whirlwind and clouds. At this time, the bow and arrow in the hand of the cavalry had already reached the full moon, and as Zhang Liao shot the sentry arrow first, three thousand arrows fell on the head of Pingcheng like black rain in an instant. In terms of cavalry shooting, the Qi army is also one of the best in Heshuo!

On the other hand, the head of Pingcheng City was already in a mess after three rounds of artillery bombardment, not to mention counterattacking with bows and crossbows, and even a decent shield array could not be organized, only a few frightened soldiers hurriedly raised their shields to block the arrows in the sky. However, how could just a few shields resist the swift and domineering arrows of the Qi army. For a while, the screams on the city came and went, and the defenders close to the battlements were shot like hedgehogs in the blink of an eye. More defenders huddled under the women's wall with their heads in their hands, trembling vigorously, for fear that another "meteor" would fall down, and the atmosphere of fear permeated the entire city.

In this way, under the cover of the cavalry, the infantry led by Koji Yan erected the ladder on the city wall almost without bloodshed. And Koji Yan took the lead, jumping on the city first, and slashed a pawn who wanted to push the rolling stones to the ground with a knife. However, just as he stepped on the hot corpse and searched all the way for the enemy, he suddenly felt a strong wind pass in his ears. Koji Yan flashed sideways alertly. I saw a white light pass by, and a strong man wearing battle armor and holding a double halberd appeared in front of Koji Yan.

For this sudden attacker, Koji didn't bother to report his name to the other party. But seeing him sneering softly, he swung his knife and slashed directly at the other side's door. The man saw that Koji Yan was fierce and hurriedly stood up to block it, but he never thought that Koji Yan was short, and swept out the man's ankle with one leg in the middle of the game. There was only a click, and the man's ankle broke in response, and one of them stumbled and fell to the ground. Koji Yan took advantage of the situation, pulled out the dagger on his waist with his backhand, and cut the opponent's throat with a knife.

Scarlet blood gushed out of the throat. splashed koji, but the latter wiped his face and continued to move forward. It's just that Koji Yan didn't know that the enemy general he killed was Deng Sheng, a Zhonglang general who rushed to the rescue from Ximen. As for the coach's move, he was already crushed under the rubble in the third round of shelling, and his fate is unknown.

An hour later, the south gate of Pingcheng burst open, and the word "Cai" was erected on the head of the city that was almost in ruins. See this. Pang Tong's heart was full of joy. The Battle of Pingcheng not only validated many of his previous ideas, but also proved once again that artillery was a powerful weapon to change siege warfare. Of course, from now on in order to deal with artillery. Cities will be built higher. Nutai and Arrow Towers on the city will also be considered for additional protection. However, Pang Tong was not worried about this, because according to his understanding of artillery, as long as the craftsmanship was adjusted, craftsmen could still forge artillery with longer fire and more powerful firepower. In any case, artillery is far more flexible than trebuchets, and it is easier to cooperate with other classes to attack. Inspired by today's victory in the First World War, Pang Tong has another experience in the use of artillery. As a result, he had secretly resolved in his heart to integrate the artillery with the many formations he had learned, so as to create a new formation.

At this moment, it is not only Pang Tongren who is deeply fascinated by artillery. Yan Rou, Nanlou, and Wuyan even regarded the five cannons in front of the battle as divine objects. If the trebuchet that was manually pulling the rock-throwing machine could still allow Yan Rou and the others to find out, then the artillery that used gunpowder gas pressure to eject projectiles was completely beyond their comprehension. In their opinion, if it were not a fetish, how could the cold bronze pipe spew fireballs. How to shoot stone projectiles. In fact, not only Yan Rou and the others, but most of the Qi soldiers present also regarded the artillery as a sacred object invited by their own master.

Although the nomads of the north have always admired martial arts, they also revere gods and shamans, especially nobles with "divine powers" such as Cai Ji. What's more, aside from those five artillery, the strength shown by the Qi army today alone is enough to make Nanlou, Wuyan and others fearful. At the same time, it also made them more convinced that the young woman standing on the chariot must be a wizard with boundless magical power. Otherwise, how could a warrior like Zhang Liao, Zhao Yun, and Koji Yan serve a woman who is powerless. How could this well-equipped 20,000 tiger army in front of him obey the orders of a weak female streamer.

With this thought, Nanlou and Wu Yan secretly exchanged glances with Yan Rou. The latter immediately led the two of them to kneel in front of Cai Ji's car with a puff amid the cheers of Qi Jun's earth-shattering cheers. I saw Yan Rou take the lead in expressing himself to Cai Ji with a fist, "Qi Hou is powerful in the world!" The Wuhuan tribes of Youzhou are willing to serve the Marquis of Qi forever! ”

Immediately followed by Nanlou and Wu Yan also used stiff Chinese, and both bowed to Cai Ji and said, "We are willing to serve the Marquis of Qi forever!" If you break this oath, the heavens and the earth will be destroyed! ”

Seeing that Yan Rou, Nanlou, and Wuyan were all in unison, Cai Ji couldn't help but smile slightly, raised his hand and said, "The three of you, please get up." It is a great blessing to have the help of three people. However, I heard that Wuhuan still has a single Yu. ”

After hearing what Cai Ji said, Nanlou looked at Wu Yan for a while, and immediately shook his head like a rattle and said, "The son of Qiu Liju, but how can a vertical son enjoy the name of Shan Yu." Besides, with the Marquis of Qi here, why should we be alone. ”

"That's right! From now on, Qi Hou is Wuhuan Da Danyu. If anyone is not convinced, Uyan will unscrew his head with his own hands! Uyan patted his chest and swore an oath.

Da Shan Yu was originally the honorific title of the Xiongnu monarch, but as the Xiongnu weakened, Shan Yu gradually became the honorific title of the leader of some large tribes outside the Saiwai. However, the Xianbei people maverickly called the leaders of the tribe "khan". At first glance, it seems somewhat strange that Nanlou and Wuyan enshrined a Central Plains woman as a "big single Yu". However, the Wuhuan people have also had a precedent of serving the Central Plains people before. For example, during the reign of Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty, Zhang Chun, the prime minister of Zhongshan, rebelled into the Qiu Liju Department and called himself the king of Mitian Anding. Commanding the three counties of Karasuma, he invaded the four prefectures of Qing, Xu, You, and Hebei, burning, killing, and plundering. It wasn't until three years later that Zhang Chunfang was beheaded by the Hu assassins recruited by Liu Yu, the Mu of Youzhou.

And the Nanlou and Wuyan in front of them control the top three clans of Wuhuan in Youzhou. Located in the difficult building of the upper valley, it has more than 9,000 people and is self-proclaimed "Cliff King". And Wuyan, which is entrenched in Youbeiping, also has more than 800 people, and also calls himself "King Khan Lu". Therefore, the two regard Cai Ji as a big single Yu, although they cannot represent the entire Wuhuan tribe, but they are definitely not jokes. After all, at present, among the Wuhuan people, the only one who can compete with Nanlou and Wuyan is the Liaodong vassal country. However, Badun has been allied with Cai Ji for many years, so Cai Ji's name of "Wuhuan Da Danyu" at this time also has a bit of a well-deserved taste.

However, Cai Ji did not take this "big single Yu" position to heart. In her opinion, the master-servant relationship between her and the Wuhuan people is based on the strength of real swords and guns. Just like what Nanlou said back then, Qiu Liju also dominated one side and was regarded as a single Yu by the Wuhuan ministries. But as soon as Qiu Liju died, his name alone existed in name only, and his son Lou Ban went into exile everywhere, and was finally captured by Cai Ji and placed under house arrest. In a sense, Cai Ji's mention of Wuhuan Shan Yu just now is also a kind of temptation, and the result of the temptation is that, compared with loyalty and oath, the law of the jungle is the real way to survive on the grassland. The strength of the Qi army is the biggest bargaining chip to ensure the loyalty of the Wuhuan people.

However, Cai Ji will not refuse the name of "Da Shan Yu" offered by Nanlou and Wuyan, because it represents the recognition of her strength by this nomadic tribe. And Cai Ji believes that as the Qi army gallops through the desert, more tribes will support her as they do today in the future, just like the grassland tribes in later generations worshiped Tang Taizong Li Shimin as the "Heavenly Khan". (To be continued......)